Seal-lock



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" P. BROWN.

SEAL LOCK. No. 369,042. Patented Aug. 30, 1887'.

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z/W/iikfm UNITED STATES PATENT Oriana.

PERRY BROWN, OF LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY.

SEAL-LOCK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 369,042, dated August 30, 1887.

Application filed October 20, 1886. Serial No. 216,744.

To aZZ whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, PERRY BROWN, a citiien of the United States, residing at Louisville, in the county of Jefferson and State of Kentucky, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Seal-Locks, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is aperspective view of a section of a freight-car provided with my improved lock. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section on the line at m, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a similar view on the line y 3 same figure. Fig. 4 is aback view of a part of the lock detached and with the back platere'moved. Fig. 5 is a front elevation of the same; Fig. 6, a vertical central section of the lock in position. Fig. 7 is a reversed plan of a modification. Fig. 8 is a section of the same through the line 2 z in Fig. 7; and Fig. 9 is a detail, which will be explained hereinafter. y

This improvement relates to that class of seal-locks in which an attempt to open the lock tears a seal; and the invention consists in the peculiar construction, arrangement, and combinations of parts, hereinafter more particular] y described, and then definitely claimed.

Referring now to the details of the-accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification, A represents the body of the car, provided with the usual door-opening.

B is the door, made to fit snugly betweentwo cleats, O, fastened on the car-body at each side of the door-opening. The door has secured to it the vertical battens D, forming double rabbets to make the doorweather-tight when closed. Across-the door, upon the inside and at about the longitudinal center thereof, is secured a wide bar, E, while at the bottom of the door, also upon the inside, is secured a cleat, 6, (see Fig. 3,) designed to vrest upon the sill A of the car when the door is closed. Across the door, upon the outside and near the bottom, is rigidly secured an iron bar, G, the projecting ends of which, when the door is closed, rest within the hook-brackets H, projecting from the side of the car, as shown. At the top of the door are two or more chains, I, or other suitable connections, for hanging the door upon the rod J, and the upper edge of the door when closed projects Model) behind a rail, K, which excludes the weather, and also acts as a top-fastening.

The features so far described in detail are and 6, to which especial. reference is now made.

The lock proper consists of an annular case, L, having two annular recesses, Z Z,in its face, one of which contains a gasket, M, of rubber, leather, or other suitable material, and the other has countersunk screw-holes to receive screws to secure the lock to the door. In the center of this lock is a cavity, L, containing a spindle, N, carrying a coiled spring, 0, one end of which is fastened in any convenient way to said spindle and its other end to the inside of said cavity by a hook (not shown) in a manner well understood by mechanics, and therefore unnecessary to describe. In front of this'spindle and fast thereon is a disk,,,,]?, having on its face an indicator, 10, whose projecting edge is preferably made sharp enough to cut the seal when pressed on the same, and a series of sharp hooked points, 1). In the rearof this spindle, and also fast on the same, is a wheel, Q, having a series of ratchet-teeth, q, and a long tooth or lug, g, which extends considerably beyond the ratchet-teeth.

At R is shown an elbow-lever or pawl, pivoted at r to the case, one end of which pawl catchesiu the teeth of the ratchet-wheel, while the other engages with a lug, s, on a bolt, S, said bolt having suitable guide-arms, 8 8, (working in guides Z" l*,) a forked arm, Z en gaging a guide, 9, cast on the back plate, 9, of the lock, and two locking-arms, s 8.

At T are represented spiral springs working on studs or wires t, and having their points of resistance between the edges of the bolt and eyes t, attached to or formed with the casing L.

As shown in Fig. 4, there is a rim, 1, that partly surrounds the ratchet-wheel; but it is cut away from the point marked 2 in Fig. 4 to the upper edge of the stop 3 (shown in dotted lines in the same figure) and from the lower edge of the said stop 3 to the point indicated by the numeral 1. This last out is made to allow of the pawl B catching in the teeth of the ratchet-wheel, and the former is to allow of the lug q passing around from the point marked 2 to the stop 3, for a purpose to be hereinafter explained.

At U is shown a screw-bolt having a nut on its threaded end and its head perforated to re ceive the pivot Y of the hasp V, which bolt passes through the door B and a tumbler, \V, pivotally connected with the two door bolts, X X, which work in a recess between the door B and the bar E, and when the hasp is in the position in Fig. 6 said bolts are shot into the cleats G, as shown in Fig. 2, and the door is securely locked in position.

The hasp V is forked at its upper end and embraces the head of the screw-bolt U, and is pivoted thereon by a pin, 1, so as to swing thereon toward or from the car-door. Its center is of ring shape, so as to show the disk P through it when in thelocked position, and it terminates in a handle, 1), which is ofsnfficient length to rest in the hook 6, attached to the door B. Vhen the hasp is in this position, the tumbler and bolts assume that shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, and the door is then unlocked, and by raising it slightly the bar G is lifted clear of thehook-braekets H, and the door will then hang on the chains I and can be removed and placed between the staples a a on the sides of the car, where it may be locked, if desired; or the door may be thrown up on top of the car, if preferred.

The circular part of the hasp has two annular ribs, 1) and o, the former of which presses on the gasket M in the face of the lock-case, while the latter enters the groove Z and has two hooks, a, (one of which is shown in dotted lines in Fig. (3,) which enter holes Z in the faces of the casing and catch under the arms 8 on the bolts S. The opening in the center of the hasp is closed by a glass, Z, through which the seal can be seen, which glass is secured by the ring or rib v, and is embedded in putty to make it water-tight.

In practice, when it is desired to close the door, the car being loaded, the door is brought in front of the door-opening, and its upperend is inserted beneath the rail K and pushed up behind it until the bar G will engage with and drop into the brackets H. The hasp being now in the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. l, a key is then inserted in an opening, 1;, made for its reception in the center of the disk 1?, and by turning the key the spring 0 is wound up, and is kept wound by the pawl catching in the teeth of the ratchetwheel until it is released in the manner hereinafter explained. A paper seal, preferably provided with suitable identifying-marks, is then placed over the disk P and forced on the indicator 1) and hooks p, which may pierce or force their way through said seal; or a slit to receive the indicator and holes for the hooks may be pre Viously cut in the seal to allow the indicator and hooks to more readily pass through the seal. The hasp V is then lifted off the hook I) and turned down over the lock, as shown in full lines in Fig. 1, and is then forced down over the lock. The rib a, pressing on the rubber gasket M, makes a tight joint and holds the seal fast, and the hooks a catch under the locking-arms 8"8" of the bolt S, in which condition the door-bolts X X occupy the position shown in Fig. 2, and the door is locked fast. WVhen in this condition, the door cannot be opened without breaking the seal, and consequently if any one opens the door it is instantly shown by the seal being torn.

To unlock the door,asuitablekey is inserted, as shown in dotted lines in the openings 1, which, by pressing on the arm 1* of the pawl It, will cause said arm to push the bolt S upward, thus moving the arms 3 out of the notches in the hooks a, so that the hasp is uninward, as shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 1. This same motion of the pawl which unlocks the hasp causes the pawl to move out of the teeth of the ratchet-wheel Q, and the force of the spring 0 rotates the disk P, and the indicator 1) and the hooks p tear the seal, so as to utterly deface the same and thus show that the hasp has been unlocked.

The indieatorp, being much larger or longer than the hooked points, will readily show whether the spring is wound or not without actual manual examination of the same. The hooked points would not show this so well, because they are smaller, and as there are necessarily more than one of them, if they were arranged so that one of them would be, say,at the top when the spring was wound and below when unwound, it would still be rather difficult to tell whether the spring was wound or not, because one of the other hooked points may be at the top. By the use of the indicator this difficulty is avoided.

I may sometimes use the construction shown in Figs. 7, S, and 9, which differs from that shown in Figs. 4, 5, and 6 in being so constructed that the tearing device rises up and pierces the seal previous to revolving for tearing it. In this form the hasp and easing are very similar to that shown in the other figures of the drawings heretofore described; but the cavity L in the center of the casing in which the tearing-disk works has on its opposite sides grooves or slots having notches at their back or lower ends like those shown at Z" Z in Fig. 9, which represents a detached view of the walls of said cavity. The tearing-disk I is somewhat differently constructed and operated from that shown in Figs. 4, 5, and 6, it having no ratchet-wheel, but has two arms, 1) 12', projecting on opposite sides and working in the grooves Z Z in the walls of the eavity L. The spindle of the disk is bored out to fit over a stud, g, rising from the center of the back plate, and which thus acts as a guide for the same. Around this spindle is a spiral spring, 0, which is so arranged that it not only rotates the disk P in the same manner as the spring 0, but it also drives the disk outward at the same time.

The operation of this form of myinvention locked and the door-bolts can be readily drawn IIO Lil

is as follows: The door being closed, as before, a key is inserted in the hole in the center of the disk and is forced downward and partially revolved, which causes the arms q q to descend in the slots 1 Z until said arms reach the bottom of the slots, when a slight turn in the opposite direction causes the arms to rest in notches in the ends of the slots. A seal is then placed over the disk P, and the hasp closed over the case and locked, as before, when the door cannot be opened without breaking the seal, because before a key can reach the bolt it must push the arm q (and with it the other arm, q) out of the notches into the main grooves Z l, which enables the spring to act upon the disk and force its cutters or points through the seal, and as these pierce the seal and the disk revolves the seal is pierced and torn so as to be utterly defaced, andtthus it is impossible to unlock the hasp or open the door without its being detected.

It is evident that the shape of the slots may be changed, so that instead of piercing and tearing it may pierce only, in which case the slots would have to be straight.

I consider it important that the tearing devices should be operated by the spring when in v,the act of tearing the seal, instead of its being operated by a key and then returned to its original position by a spring, as has been proposed, because if the slightest movement is given to the spring in my construction the seal is necessarily totally defaced, as the force of the spring cannot be controlled, whereas where the tearer is moved by a key an attempt might be carefully made, and on the discovery that the seal would be broken by further movement of the key it might be stopped Without sufficient damage being done to the seal to show without comparatively close inspection. 1 Y

WVhat I claim as new is 1. A seal-lock provided with a spring-operated seal-defacer, constructed to tear the seal by spring-power, substantially as described.

2. Asealiock provided with a rotary springoperated seal defacer, substantially as described.

3. A seal-lock provided with a spring-operated indicator, substantially as described, set in motion by the insertion of the key that opens the look, as set forth.

4. A seal-lock provided with a rotary indicator and tearing-hooks and a spring for operating the same, substantially as described.

5. The combination, in a seal-lock, of a casing containing the locking and seal-defacing mechanism with a hasp securing the seal to the casing and the door-bol ts connected to and operated by said hasp, substantially as described. 4

6. The combination, in a seal-lock, ofa casing containing the locking and seal-defacing mechanism with a hasp operating the lockingbolts and provided with an opening filled with a transparent substance covering the seal, substantially as described.

7. The combination, in a seal-lock, of a casing containing the locking and seal-defacing mechanism, and provided with a groove to receive a packingring, with a swinging hasp having an opening filled with transparent material covering the seal, and a rib fit ting watertight against said packing-ring to protect the seal from the weather, substantially as described;

S. The combination, in aseal-lock, and with the bolts of a door, of a hasp covering the casing containing the lock and seal-defacing mechanism, a tumbler connected to the doorbolts and to said hasp, and both tumbler and hasp connected to move simultaneously, substantially as described.

9. The combination, in a seal-lock, of acasing constructed to receive the seal-defacing mechanism, a hasp swinging over the same on a pivotal connection with the door-bolts, and locking mechanism, as the bolt S, for. securing the hasp over the seal, substantially as described.

10. The combination, in aseal-lock, of a casing constructed to receive the seal-defacing mechanism, a hasp swinging over the same on a pivotal connection with the door-bolts, and a bolt to lock the same to the casing, with a spring to impel the defacing mechanism, and a dog or pawl to hold said spring in its wound condition, constructed to be operated by the key that moves the locking-bolt, substantially as described.

1]. The combination, in a seal-lock, of a casin g constructed to receive a rotary seal-defacer and a hasp swinging over the same on a pivotal connection with the door-bolts, with a bolt to look the same to the casing, a spring-to impel the defacer, a ratchet-wheel connected with the same, and a dog or pawl having one end engaging the teeth of the ratchet-wheel and the other arranged to act on the seal-lock bolt to open the same, substantially as described. p

12. The combination, in a seal-lock, of a casing constructed to receive a rotary seal-dcfacer and a hasp swinging over the same on a piv otal connection with the door-bolts, with a bolt to lock the same to the casing, a spring to impel the defacer, a ratchet-wheel connected with the same, and a dog or pawl having one end engaging the teeth of the ratchet-wheel and the other end arranged to close the keyhole of the lock, substantially as described.

13. The combinationof a hasp, V, connected with the door-bolts and having an aperture filled in with transparent material, with a casing, L, a spindle, N, carrying a seal-defacer, a spring surrounding said spindle, a ratchetwheel fast on the same, a pawl, R, engaging the teeth ofthe ratchet, and a bolt, S, for securing the hasp to the lock, substantially' as described.

14. The combination of a hasp,V, connected with the door-bolts and having a central aperture filled in with transparent material, with a casing, L, having apertures Z and a central IIO cavity, L, a spindle, N, carrying a seal-defacer Working in said cavity, a spring surrounding said spindle, a rateliet-n-"heel fast on the same, a pawl, R, engaging the teeth of the ratchet-wheel, and a bolt, S, provided with locking-arms s on opposite sides to secure the hasp, substantially as described.

15. The combination of a hasp, V. having an aperture filled in with transparent material, the door-bolts X, a tumbler, and pivotal connections between said bolts and the hasp, with a casing, L, having central cavity, L, and side apertures, Z", a spindle, N, carrying a seal deiacer and working in cavity L, aspringsmrounding said spindle, a ratchet-Wheel fast on the same, a pawl, R, engaging the teeth of the ratchet-wheel, and a bolt, S, provided with locking-arms s on opposite sides to secure the hasp, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature, in presence of two witnesses, this 15th day of October, 1886.

PERRY 3RO\VN. Witnesses:

T. J. W. Ronna'rson, JULi'Us Semen. 

